What with the current sci-fi challenge going on, I figured now would be a good time to do a poll on classic 1950's science fiction films. Which one is your favorite? If yours isn't listed among the choices below, by all means share it. Also, post posters when you can - they're always colorful, hyperbolic, and sometimes superior to the films themselves!

The Day the Earth Stood Still
The The Thing from Another World
When Worlds Collide
Donovan's Brain
Invaders from Mars
It Came from Outer Space
The War of the Worlds
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Gojira
Them!
The Quartermass Xperiment
Tarantula
This Island Earth
Forbidden Planet
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Blob
The Mysterians
20 Million Miles to Earth
The Fly
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Plan 9 from Outer Space

Other - please specify

My personal favorite is Invasion of the Body Snatchers, though The Incredible Shrinking Man is pretty damn close.

I'm looking at this poster right now above my computer desk, and have loved this flick ever since I saw it late one night in the early '80s. Runner-up: Shrinking Man, definitely.

Mountain Biker

07-13-09, 11:09 PM

Also, post posters when you can - they're always colorful, hyperbolic, and sometimes superior to the films themselves!

:thumbsup:

I'll admit, I'm not into older movies but I do enjoy the cheesy sci-fi classics of yesteryear. Of the few I have seen, these would be my favorites...

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2051/creaturestock.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2231/mpw12352.jpg

Giles

07-13-09, 11:23 PM

for the record I thought 'When Worlds Collide' was a huge disappointment, I thought there would be more of the world falling apart and cities crumbling here and there, knowing that the movie was shot when ethnic characters were not the norm, I thought the whole idea that only a few select caucasian characters got the chance to escape the earth and start anew - left a very foul taste in my mouth. Supposedly there's a remake in the works, that will solve that major personal flaw.

movielib

07-13-09, 11:28 PM

Forbidden Planet by a light year.

dom56

07-13-09, 11:32 PM

I have some good '50 sci-fi in my collection, but if I had to choose which was my personal favorite I would've pick Them!

The Day the Earth Stood Still. For me, few films, from any era, can compare.
I just saw The Day the Earth Stood Still for the first time ever tonight. Loved it!

Jon2

07-14-09, 12:05 AM

for the record I thought 'When Worlds Collide' was a huge disappointment, I thought there would be more of the world falling apart and cities crumbling here and there, knowing that the movie was shot when ethnic characters were not the norm, I thought the whole idea that only a few select caucasian characters got the chance to escape the earth and start anew - left a very foul taste in my mouth. Supposedly there's a remake in the works, that will solve that major personal flaw.

All things considered, I'm rather surprised at this criticism (lack of PC ethnicity) as it can be applied to every film listed in the poll. Like pretty much everything, including people, they are products of their time.

The Mysterians is the exception, but not because of it's multiracial cast. It's a 60's film.

As for the poll, even though there are a number of excellent films listed, I have to go with Forbidden Planet... despite the fact that, while it is my favorite SF film, I have an issue with the moral point of the story "That man, after all, is not God." A theological, anti-intellectual hammering to the mind that is second only to 1930's Frankenstein's (and many other films before and since) "There are some things man is not meant to know" ham-fisted sermonizing. Maybe it's because I sympathize with the character of Morbius.

I'm looking at this poster right now above my computer desk, and have loved this flick ever since I saw it late one night in the early '80s. Runner-up: Shrinking Man, definitely. http://i29.tinypic.com/hsvx2c.jpg

I have this poster over my computer desk (I must have had that poster for at least 20 years now), but it's not my favorite 50's sci-fi film, that would definitely be The Incredible Shrinking Man.

have loved this flick ever since I saw it late one night in the early '80s.

Same here...

mike45

07-14-09, 12:58 AM

I really can't choose.

RoboDad

07-14-09, 03:15 AM

Very tough choice. Many of the titles in the list are among my all-time favorite films, but I went with Forbidden Planet. It is the first name that always springs to mind when I think of 50's Sci Fi, and there must be a reason for that. :)

rw2516

07-14-09, 07:10 AM

The Blob

Another favorite not mentioned, 4-D Man

JAA

07-14-09, 07:36 AM

The Day the Earth Stood Still. For me, few films, from any era, can compare.

An easy choice. :up:

Next in line would be, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Jaymole

07-14-09, 07:38 AM

http://www.diet-smith.ca/403px-Forbidden_Planet_poster.jpg

Giles

07-14-09, 08:54 AM

All things considered, I'm rather surprised at this criticism (lack of PC ethnicity) as it can be applied to every film listed in the poll. Like pretty much everything, including people, they are products of their time.

The Mysterians is the exception, but not because of it's multiracial cast. It's a 60's film.

As for the poll, even though there are a number of excellent films listed, I have to go with Forbidden Planet... despite the fact that, while it is my favorite SF film, I have an issue with the moral point of the story "That man, after all, is not God." A theological, anti-intellectual hammering to the mind that is second only to 1930's Frankenstein's (and many other films before and since) "There are some things man is not meant to know" ham-fisted sermonizing. Maybe it's because I sympathize with the character of Morbius.

oh most definately, I for some reason was just royally offended by this for some bizarre reason, like it was some hidden Nazi propaganda film for a planet comprised of a sole Aryran race.

Giles

07-14-09, 08:56 AM

saw Forbidden Planet and The Blob for the first time this month [the SciFi Challenge] and loved both of them :thumbsup:

Ash Ketchum

07-14-09, 10:32 AM

That is such a good list. Not a weak film in the bunch. Highly recommended to all sci-fi fans on the board who haven't seen all of them.

Tough to pick one. For me, it's between INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, and THEM! Ultimately, I decided to vote for THEM! because it's the one I've seen most recently and it held up so well.

Mondo Kane

07-14-09, 01:15 PM

Picked 20 Million Miles to Earth

Numanoid

07-14-09, 02:06 PM

While I think that Forbidden Planet and The Day The Earth Stood Still are better films, The Incredible Shrinking Man is my favorite.

I loved Them
http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/allposters/62/1800126462p.jpg
as a kid and still like it today. The whole mystery atmosphere in the beginning. Voted for that but there are alot of great ones on this list. But what about The Giant Gila
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A1GXSM.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Monster or better yet The Giant Claw!
http://tcmmoviemorlocks.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/claw003.jpg

marty888

07-14-09, 09:08 PM

<b>THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL</b> is one of my top movies of all time, so it is automtically the fave.

Picking a runner-up would be difficult, because so many on that list are movies I've been watching my entire life, without ever tiring of them.

That is such a good list. Not a weak film in the bunch. Highly recommended to all sci-fi fans on the board who haven't seen all of them.
Hell yes, that's a terrific list.

I'm going to go with Them!, because it's an excellent movie and one of my earliest memories of 50s sci-fi. Plus, it's friggin scary. And it's got Santa Claus.

B5Erik

07-15-09, 12:27 AM

If it's "Favorite" and not "Best," then I've got to go with...

The War Of The Worlds

I love everything about that movie, but one thing in particular stands out - the voice work. Paul Frees, Les Tremayne, Sir Cedric Hardwicke - three fantastic voices all in the same movie. Of course, the movie itself is great - great script, direction, and the acting is really underrated and quite good. It's a classic, without a doubt.

But for me several films are practically tied with that one, including...

Forbidden Planet
Gojira/Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Them
When Worlds Collide
The Creature From the Black Lagoon

And one that I wouldn't put quite that high on the list, but is worth watching is

IT! The Terror From Beyond Space

NoirFan

07-15-09, 06:30 PM

I love everything about that movie, but one thing in particular stands out - the voice work. Paul Frees, Les Tremayne, Sir Cedric Hardwicke - three fantastic voices all in the same movie. Of course, the movie itself is great - great script, direction, and the acting is really underrated and quite good. It's a classic, without a doubt.

The scene in which the alien slowly reaches out his "hand" and places it on the shoulder of an unaware Ann Robinson is still genuinely creepy.

wvtechs

07-15-09, 07:58 PM

Classic Sci-Fi doesn't get much better than this.

http://i32.tinypic.com/2rw0v0h.jpg

HistoryProf

07-15-09, 11:05 PM

I chose Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but really could have been Them!, Forbidden Planet, the Thing, or the Day the Earth Stood Still - all are awesome and movies that really freaked me out when I was a kid....especially Them! I remember seeing that on a saturday Chiller! on tv50 in the mid 70s and being scared shitless!

Other random movie memory that gave me nightmares: Gargoyles!

Charlie Goose

07-16-09, 09:03 AM

Which is the one with the guy who grows into a giant, and his sister or his girlfriend is chasing him around shouting, "Glenn! Come back!"

arminius

07-16-09, 10:04 AM

Which is the one with the guy who grows into a giant, and his sister or his girlfriend is chasing him around shouting, "Glenn! Come back!"
And you don't want to change that diaper.
http://www.silverscreenfilmclips.com/uploaded_images/TheAmazingColossalMan(1957)A-750036.jpg

Giles

07-16-09, 10:25 AM

The Mysterians is the exception, but not because of it's multiracial cast. It's a 60's film.

according to wiki, it was shot in 57, released in Japan in 58, released in the US - 59

as for the film, which I watched last night - wow, what a truly absurb absolutely entertaining film. Some of the action scenes could have been tightened a bit, but the story and how the situations play out make this a wild little gem of a film.

islandclaws

07-16-09, 01:10 PM

Tough call...

I went with Forbidden Planet because it encapsulates so much of what I love about 50's sci-fi.

NoirFan

07-16-09, 11:28 PM

I went with Forbidden Planet because it encapsulates so much of what I love about 50's sci-fi.

Plus, how many other Shakespearean films feature booze-sluggin' robots?

Joe Molotov

07-17-09, 12:15 AM

Forbidden Planet, with tDtESS a close second.

Trevor

07-18-09, 05:43 PM

Very tough choice, but today I'll go with Godzilla.

NoirFan

07-19-09, 05:50 PM

Very tough choice, but today I'll go with Godzilla.

It's a pity the upcoming Blu-ray won't include the commentary track or the U.S. cut. Although obviously inferior to the Japanese version, it would be nice to be able to do a hi-def compare and contrast.

felixm13

07-19-09, 08:51 PM

I love John Carpenters The Thing, and have to admit that I've never seen the Howard Hawks version. I think I have to pay netflix a visit...also never seen Forbidden Planet.

NoirFan

07-20-09, 07:50 PM

The Giant Claw!

I just finished watching this. Mara Corday is a dead ringer for Gina Gershon.

mndtrp

07-20-09, 07:56 PM

A lot of good movies on this list, but I'll have to go with The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Ky-Fi

07-21-09, 09:36 AM

I just finished watching this. Mara Corday is a dead ringer for Gina Gershon.

She was a great 50's sci-fi actress---I enjoyed her in Tarantula as well. She was a total knockout.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3660807753_5e5d595cdd.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/2982271949_aa870a07c8.jpg?v=0

Ash Ketchum

07-21-09, 12:38 PM

Mara Corday stopped acting after 1961, but then made a comeback of sorts, quite a bit heftier than she was in the above photos, appearing in four Clint Eastwood movies, THE GAUNTLET, SUDDEN IMPACT, PINK CADILLAC and THE ROOKIE. In SUDDEN IMPACT, she's the counter girl pouring sugar into Dirty Harry's coffee cup as a way of alerting him that a robbery is in progress. "Me and Smith & Wesson."

What's the connection? Eastwood had a bit part in TARANTULA.

NoirFan

07-21-09, 06:15 PM

I love John Carpenters The Thing, and have to admit that I've never seen the Howard Hawks version.

It's a lot of fun. Hawks directs with his usual breakneck speed, characters tossing off rapid rejoinders, often stepping on each other's lines - it's like a 1930's screwball comedy that just happens to include an alien monster. The performances are nicely low-key too, with very little of the stiff, strident pontificating that bogs down many of it's contemporaries.

Fiend Without a Face has a pretty graphic sequence for it's time, but the overall concept is a bit more creative than the execution. That's a great poster though.

JohnnyMovie

07-28-10, 01:08 AM

I guess I take The Thing from Another World (1951).

Mondo Kane

07-28-10, 01:31 AM

Bumped for the challenge - anyone discover a new favorite?

Incredible Shrinking Man

Much better than I was led to believe.

NoirFan

07-28-10, 06:14 PM

Incredible Shrinking Man

Much better than I was led to believe.

Were you thrown off by the title? I would assume that the reviews are uniformly positive. It's probably the most reflective, moving science-fiction film of the decade, with a typically excellent Matheson script, from his book. A minor masterpiece, really.

Mondo Kane

07-28-10, 09:05 PM

Were you thrown off by the title?

Since the dollhouse scene appeared on It Came From Hollywood, I expected the whole thing to be amusingly corny. But It turned out to (Possibly) be the best movie I saw for this marathon.

NoirFan

07-28-10, 09:11 PM

Since the dollhouse scene appeared on It Came From Hollywood, I expected the whole thing to be amusingly corny. But It turned out to (Possibly) be the best movie I saw for this marathon.

Don't pay attention to any of the idiotic, lazy potshots in It Came from Hollywood. It's an insulting and, worst of all, painfully unfunny piece of shoddily edited junk far drearier than any of the films it attempts to mock.

BobO'Link

07-28-10, 10:13 PM

There are *many* excellent films in the list but for the *favorite* I have to go with:

"War of the Worlds"

I loved it as a child and still do.

JANK

07-28-10, 10:34 PM

Good poll, good thread, Forbidden Planet followed by War of the Worlds

Ky-Fi

07-28-10, 11:16 PM

Although maybe not in the top tier, Harryhausen's mentor, King Kong's Willis O'Brien worked his stop-motion magic on a couple 50's sci-fi movies: The Giant Behemoth and The Black Scorpion. The Black Scorpion in particular had some absolutely classic sci-fi images, IMO, especially when they went down into the cave of scorpions.

FRwL

07-29-10, 02:56 AM

So many good movies here, tough to choose between Gojira, This Island Earth, Creature from the Black Lagoon but... i'll go with zilla. Another good one was Mole People. Scifi is the biggest reason why i love 50s so much.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Mole_People.jpg

Charlie Goose

03-23-13, 07:02 AM

Bumping thread because I just saw 20 Million Miles to Earth with Ymir and his Wilford Brimley mustache for the first time this week, and Tarantula last month.

Now I have my appetite whetted for all the 50s sci-fi monsters that I haven't seen. Hopefully I can find most on Netflix.

I hope nobody minds if I bump this thread from time to time when i see a new one.

IT! was pretty good, supposedly a basis for Alien. The monster is just a tall guy in a rubber suit, but he's suitably scary for the time I suppose. There were previous Monster-from-space-run-amok, but I wonder if this was the first monster-IN-space-run-amok.

Trevor

03-31-13, 11:26 AM

Definitely make sure it's bumped July 1st!

JANK

03-31-13, 12:25 PM

I Was A Teenage Caveman w Robert Vaughn deserves mention. The twist at the end is just fantastic!

chente

03-31-13, 04:54 PM

Incredible Shrinking Man but it was close!

Charlie Goose

04-01-13, 12:10 AM

Definitely make sure it's bumped July 1st!

What happens on July 1st?

Charlie Goose

04-06-13, 07:30 AM

Next on my list:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3da27b3127ccef29870b886f500000030O08AaMmrNy2asge3nww/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00002569352420130406112619906.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

While conducting groundbreaking but highly illegal experiments, brilliant scientist Patrick (Lew Ayres) falls under the supernatural control of a dead industrialist's living brain, which commands him to carry out numerous nefarious deeds, including murder. Based on the novel by Curt Siodmak, this sci-fi horror classic co-stars former first lady Nancy Davis (Reagan) as Patrick's wife, who bravely struggles to defeat the evil brain.

Starts out pretty dull. You can't imagine how a brain floating in a fish tank can convey any kind of menace. However, thanks to the performance of Lew Ayres, the second half isn't too bad. The brain itself is kind of hokey as it glows, pulsates, and thrashes about in its evil glory.

TomOpus

04-06-13, 08:33 AM

As a child growing up in the L.A. area, there was a local show called "Strange Tales of Science Fiction" that I would watch with my dad. I watched many of the films listed on the poll thanks to that show. To say I love '50's sci-fi is an understatement.

By today's standards they were very hokey with crude effects. But as a kid, it was great to wonder, "What if..."

Ash Ketchum

04-06-13, 09:17 AM

What happens on July 1st?

That's when the Sci-Fi Challenge starts over on the DVD Talk board. You should participate. In fact, you should ALL participate.

EddieMoney

04-11-13, 02:37 PM

While certainly not the best on the list, The Thing from Another World would be my favorite.

kd5

04-12-13, 07:51 AM

For me it would be a toss up between:

The Day the Earth Stood Still, The War of the Worlds, or Forbidden Planet.

Hokeyboy

04-12-13, 09:39 AM

I have to go with 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea as my favorite, but it was REAL close. Plenty of classics there. But Leagues wins it, if only because I saw it as a kid, at Walt Disney World, on our first night of a weeklong vacation there. And I was TRANSFIXED. The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom (back when it was the ONLY park there) and found out they had an actual ride based on the movie. Madness! My Dad bought me the book later on and it introduced me to Jules Verne and science-fiction as a whole.

I recently rewatched it, and it still holds up well. There's something really magical about it. I could argue that Forbidden Planet, The Day The Earth Stood Still, even The Thing From Another World are 'better' movies in the traditional sense, but I don't love them like I love 20,000 Leagues.

Hokeyboy

04-12-13, 09:45 AM

By today's standards they were very hokey with crude effects.
:mad:

TomOpus

04-12-13, 11:03 AM

:mad:

:flowers:

And I share your love of 20,000 Leagues. It's still one of my favorites.

Ash Ketchum

04-12-13, 11:07 AM

I have to go with 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea as my favorite, but it was REAL close. Plenty of classics there. But Leagues wins it, if only because I saw it as a kid, at Walt Disney World, on our first night of a weeklong vacation there. And I was TRANSFIXED. The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom (back when it was the ONLY park there) and found out they had an actual ride based on the movie. Madness! My Dad bought me the book later on and it introduced me to Jules Verne and science-fiction as a whole.

I recently rewatched it, and it still holds up well. There's something really magical about it. I could argue that Forbidden Planet, The Day The Earth Stood Still, even The Thing From Another World are 'better' movies in the traditional sense, but I don't love them like I love 20,000 Leagues.

I saw 20,000 LEAGUES on the big screen when they re-released it in 1971 and I took a whole group of kids from a community program to see it when I was a youth worker (I was in high school at the time). It was on a double bill with RETURN OF THE SEVEN. 20,000 LEAGUES is significant because it was Disney's first Cinemascope film, but it was also the first Disney film to feature a top boxoffice American star, Kirk Douglas. It put Disney in the big studio leagues for the first time.

EddieMoney

04-12-13, 11:27 AM

Honestly, there are too many classics in this list. Mind boggling, almost.

Ash Ketchum

04-12-13, 01:14 PM

I just checked to see which one I'd voted for and it was THEM! But if I'd voted after seeing INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS last October, I probably would have voted for that. And there are times when I would have voted for GOJIRA.

hanshotfirst1138

04-12-13, 05:04 PM

Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I think time has been remarkably kind to it, and I prefer it to the many other adaptations. The emasculating studio-imposed ending excepted, the dark paranoia is still pretty powerful, IMO.

Honestly, there are too many classics in this list. Mind boggling, almost.

Agreed. That list is full of win, and you could probably add another twenty more from the Fifties that would equally deserve mention.

Which also points up how forgettable the science fiction genre has been in the decades since - or at least, post 1970s. I don't think it would even be possible to fill out a list of at least ten good science fiction films for any individual decade from the 1980s through the 2000s.

Nick Danger

04-12-13, 06:22 PM

I haven't seen them all. But a lot of them are awesome.

The list is missing one of my favorites: Qatermass 2, written by Nigel Neale. It is as paranoid as the X-Files.

Lt Ripley

04-12-13, 06:25 PM

Agreed. That list is full of win, and you could probably add another twenty more from the Fifties that would equally deserve mention.

Which also points up how forgettable the science fiction genre has been in the decades since - or at least, post 1970s. I don't think it would even be possible to fill out a list of at least ten good science fiction films for any individual decade from the 1980s through the 2000s.

Agreed. That list is full of win, and you could probably add another twenty more from the Fifties that would equally deserve mention.

Which also points up how forgettable the science fiction genre has been in the decades since - or at least, post 1970s. I don't think it would even be possible to fill out a list of at least ten good science fiction films for any individual decade from the 1980s through the 2000s.

Anime sci-fi features: ten exemplary titles each from the 1980s and '90s:

Just saw this one. It's a bit of a cheat since it's not 1950s, but actually 1961.

It's bad. Gangster gets caught in the middle of atomic testing (clumsy!) and becomes the man of steel, so he sets out for revenge on the other gangsters that betrayed him. Not much sci-fi here, since he doesn't really do a lot except ward off a few bullets. And double over in pain every so often from the radiation poisoning. It's not fun like other sci-fi movies of the time either, it's actually kind of salacious in some parts. Starring no one you know, and for good reason. I need to watch a giant bug movie now to get this one off my mind.

My first time seeing this one, I think I saw some of the 80s remake years ago.
This was the best of the bunch so far. Good suspense and direction during the first half, I think the kid pulled off a good performance. A lot like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Too much repeated footage and a lot of stock footage of the US military gearing up to kick ass. One of the characters mentioned how we were going to use space to keep weapons pointed at the enemy, which was how the space race started, so I guess they wanted some USA RAH RAH in there.
The second half is weaker, with big lumbering Martians taking orders from the Great Gazoo. That was a letdown. Repeated foootage is a lot more obvious at this point.
The ending
Surprised that they went with a Twilight Zone type of ending. Did the boy dream the attack? Was it a premonition? Is he caught in a time loop? Is he just nucking futs?

Just saw this one. It's a bit of a cheat since it's not 1950s, but actually 1961.

It's bad. Gangster gets caught in the middle of atomic testing (clumsy!) and becomes the man of steel, so he sets out for revenge on the other gangsters that betrayed him. Not much sci-fi here, since he doesn't really do a lot except ward off a few bullets. And double over in pain every so often from the radiation poisoning. It's not fun like other sci-fi movies of the time either, it's actually kind of salacious in some parts. Starring no one you know, and for good reason. I need to watch a giant bug movie now to get this one off my mind.

It was made in 1958. From IMDB:
Made in 1958 but not released until 1961 because of the financial failure of producer Benedict Bogeaus' original distributor, RKO. Bogeaus sat on the film for three years until he was able to sell it to Columbia for a flat fee in 1961.

It was the last film by silent film pioneer Allan Dwan who'd been directing since 1911!

And what do you mean "Starring no one you know"??? Debra Paget is my favorite starlet of the 1950s. She does a very sexy "Egyptian" dance in PRINCESS OF THE NILE (1954). Her co-star in MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE, Elaine Stewart, actually starred in a NILE knock-off, also in 1954, THE ADVENTURES OF HAJI BABA. See what you're missing?

EddieMoney

05-01-13, 11:14 AM

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but I also always liked The Day of the Triffids.

FRwL

05-01-13, 01:19 PM

The 80s is the 2nd best scifi decdae behind 50s.

Ash Ketchum

05-01-13, 01:48 PM

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but I also always liked The Day of the Triffids.

Here's another good one. An undersea earthquake has uncovered some prehistoric eggs at the bottom of the Salton Sea, and they've hatched ugly giant swimming caterpillars. Some scenes reminded me a lot of Jaws. Gets a little slow in the middle, but picks up at the end. Extra points for having Hans Conried. See if you can keep track of how many times someone says, "Salton", I lost count.

B5Erik

05-30-13, 09:18 PM

If it's "Favorite" and not "Best," then I've got to go with...

The War Of The Worlds

I love everything about that movie, but one thing in particular stands out - the voice work. Paul Frees, Les Tremayne, Sir Cedric Hardwicke - three fantastic voices all in the same movie. Of course, the movie itself is great - great script, direction, and the acting is really underrated and quite good. It's a classic, without a doubt.

But for me several films are practically tied with that one, including...

Forbidden Planet
Gojira/Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Them
When Worlds Collide
The Creature From the Black Lagoon

Hmmmm...

Four years later I think I would still say the same thing. War Of The Worlds is my favorite, but I think the best from that era was Forbidden Planet. I love all of the movies I listed here.

And one that I wouldn't put quite that high on the list, but is worth watching is

IT! The Terror From Beyond Space
That's a movie that's well worth watching if you haven't seen it yet.

Here's another good one. An undersea earthquake has uncovered some prehistoric eggs at the bottom of the Salton Sea, and they've hatched ugly giant swimming caterpillars. Some scenes reminded me a lot of Jaws. Gets a little slow in the middle, but picks up at the end. Extra points for having Hans Conried. See if you can keep track of how many times someone says, "Salton", I lost count.

I watched this film for one of the Sci-Fi challenges on DVD Talk and I was quite impressed with it. It was largely shot on location and the monsters were all mechanically created and manipulated in real time on the set, just like they did with the ants in THEM! When they do it right, it's one of the most effective ways to make a monster movie.

Fiend Without a Face has a pretty graphic sequence for it's time, but the overall concept is a bit more creative than the execution. That's a great poster though.

I really liked the stop motion crawling brains with antennae and tendril-like arms. Very creepy. Certainly better than the earlier part of the movie when they were still invisible.
Surprisingly gory for the time, with the Fiends bleeding marinara or dissolving into applesauce. Tasty!

mike7162

06-09-13, 01:24 AM

Great films, all of them, but I'm going with The Incredible Shrinking Man - how can you go wrong with existentialism and a giant kitty?